The Kirkus Prize is one of the richest literary awards in the world, with a prize of $50,000 bestowed annually to authors of fiction, nonfiction and young readers’ literature. It was created to celebrate the 81 years of discerning, thoughtful criticism Kirkus Reviews has contributed to both the publishing industry and readers at large. Books that earned the Kirkus Star with publication dates between November 1, 2014, and October 31, 2015, are automatically nominated for the 2015 Kirkus Prize, and the winners will be selected on October 23, 2015, by an esteemed panel composed of nationally respected writers and highly regarded booksellers, librarians and Kirkus critics.

It's a Dark, Dark World but Don't Make Us Leave It [SHOWING SLIDE 5 OF 10]

Violence, apocalypse, war: just another day reading current best-sellers! We gave a rare star to George R.R. Martin’s A Game of Thrones when it was first published in 1996, so the current trend of forbidding reads isn’t exactly new, though the trend has flourished lately. This week, we recommend books both new and old that revel in darkness and do such a good job of it that we don’t want to leave the worlds created in those stories.

"A magical mystery tour through the mythologies of all cultures, a unique and moving love story—and another winner for the phenomenally gifted, consummately reader-friendly Gaiman."

An ex-convict is the wandering knight-errant who traverses the wasteland of Middle America, in this ambitious, gloriously funny, and oddly heartwarming latest from the popular fantasist (Stardust, 1999, etc.). Read full book review >

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